Dick Hunt's Bloghttps://57dickhunt.wordpress.com
Dick Hunt's 92+ years of historySat, 10 Mar 2018 14:53:18 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/74b274bb5c2a07d239a998a6620459de?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngDick Hunt's Bloghttps://57dickhunt.wordpress.com
A Timely and Accurate Observationhttps://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/a-timely-and-accurate-observation/
https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/a-timely-and-accurate-observation/#respondSat, 14 Mar 2015 20:54:58 +0000http://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/?p=1312A Timely and Accurate Observation.
by Dick Hunt, Week of March 10th to 14th, 2014.
During this week I have had a busy time. Ups and downs. Blessings and lessons. One of my experiences has involved me in excruciating pain, the reason for which I was unable to understand. Enter my evening Fraser Health Care person, a young man with experience and keen observation and valiant heart. He accurately discovered a large swelling and said I had suffered a Hernia. He further said I should go to the Hospital by ambulance without delay. He also made all the arrangements and in short order I was off to the hospital in an ambulance Two strong men lifted me onto a Gurney, covered me up and rolled me into the vehicle. They asked me various questions, made copious notes on their official forms and in due course I was seated on an uncomfortable “Chair” in the hospital with my feet sticking out beyond the foot rest. Then, wait for results.
There was lot’s of activity, coming and going of cleaning staff, and other activities, incoming patients being looked after and processed. I waited. And waited . My time of arrival was about 7:45 PM.I presumed I might have an X Ray. Wrong assumption. Or an examination by a Doctor. Wrong again. Finally I needed to urinate and got the attention of a staff member, who brought me the appropriate equipment. I suggested perhaps the labs might want to do a urine check. She said, “Maybe” and went away. Finally, I asked what was being done about my immediate future. The staff member, said, “Don’t worry, we know you are here and went away again.
My watch indicated that it was nearly 10 PM. Someone said “the Doctor is busy ‘on the other side’ “ He finally arrived and said I had suffered a hernia, that I should phone a Specialist, whose card he gave me and I should arrange for surgery sometime down the line. The only person who did an observation and discovered a swelling was my Home Care Person. He reported to the various people that evening, from the Ambulance attendants, to the Hospital staff on the phone who had anything to do with me. They all appeared to believe what he had observed and based their “treatment” on his analysis, for no-one else even cast a glance upon what he discovered, a large swelling in my left groin, which was the source of my excruciating pain. I cannot fault the young Doctor, who seemed to be the only one on duty as he was doing his best to cover all demands. He never examined me but, based on the evidence he had been given, I had a hernia. I thank God for the accurate observation of my care giver. The doctor said the Hospital was going to send me home in a Taxi and that I should hand the driver my house key, get him to go into my suite (ground floor), find my Walker, get me into the house safely and I was home for the night. In the meantime my pain had subsided, the swelling had diminished and I slept well. A great blessing unfolded just after the taxi left. The door bell rang and I opened the door to find my dear friends Gerry and Barbara Vickers were there, having called at the hospital just as I was leaving in the taxi, Gerry had recognized me in the passenger seat by my “shiny” head.They got me to bed and were obviously part of God’s care for me . Thank you Lord!
]]>https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/a-timely-and-accurate-observation/feed/057dickhuntComplex. That is What Life Is.https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/complex-that-is-what-life-is/
https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/complex-that-is-what-life-is/#respondSat, 14 Mar 2015 19:42:22 +0000http://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/?p=1342Checking old emails and I don’t think I added this one to Dad’s blog. Joy

Complex. That is What Life Is.

by Dick Hunt, March 12th, 2013.

And often we might wish Life is more simple. I hear many people say they long for the Good Old Days. But they are gone beyond recall. My children urged me 19 years ago to write my Family History, so they could understand what life was like when I was a boy on a Cattle Ranch in east central Alberta. My eldest Daughter Joy got me started using an Apple computer and I started pecking out words with two forefingers. The result was that I carefully set down from memory, in 140 pages, a letter size, close typed history, in twelve coil backed copies, for immediate family members. I am now editing the results with the intention of publishing it in book form. And it will be a Complex story.

That is not all that is Complex. I am frequently asked questions about Food Supplements, having studied Nutrition from sources which are trustworthy, based on Scientific reports by highly qualified Phd’s, and backed up by 35 years of being very well served by Shaklee Corporation, the leading supplier of all natural food based Supplements in the world. All of them are Clinically Proven to be effective, safe, and backed by scientific evidence and approval by third parties. The word “Complex” is employed very often in the names of the various very effective Nutritional Supplements from Shaklee. For example, B Complex contains the full spectrum of B’s, in nature’s balance with scientific research to make sure only the best, most complete and fully tested raw materials are used and that no item is left out of the “Complex” to be sure it is the best and mose effective available. The evidence shows that B Complex should only be

used when all the parts are together in the proper balance.

The same applies to all the Shaklee Nutritional products. Like human endeavor, we work best and most effectively when we work together. I am often asked if Shaklee has a product calleed B12. I answer, “only when you ask for it in it’s role in the B. Complex.” Last evening I was asked if Shaklee can provide Glucosamine. I said, yes, but only in a product called “Joint Health Complex”, because it works in concert with other factors. You will see the word, Synergistic in connection with many products, and that means, roughly speaking, “Working Together”.

The Shaklee Product Catalogue reveals the content of all the various raw materials in each tablet or capsule, in detail and the price list. All the contents of all the parts of each item are there in detail and guaranteed to be in each product listed. Google Shaklee for any information you may wish.

The way Shaklee Corporation works together for the health of people is to develop and supply the best possible products available, based on deep, constant research, (the company employes nearly 100 Phd Scientists full time) to make sure no effort is missed in the ever improving line of fully guaranteed Health Care Products. Shaklee is dedicated to making it possible to achieve Optimum Health through what we ingest. We are not interested in waiting until people get sick and then try to fix them.

So, I am 92 years and 7 months of age. Life is great.

Note: this was written in 2013. Dad is now 94+ (heading toward 95).

]]>https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/complex-that-is-what-life-is/feed/057dickhuntPrice Alone? What about Quality?https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/price-alone-what-about-quality-2/
https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/price-alone-what-about-quality-2/#respondSat, 14 Mar 2015 19:35:01 +0000http://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/?p=1339I was checking my old emails and I don’t think I added the post below to Dad’s WordPress (note the written date).

Joy

Price Alone? What about Quality?

by Dick Hunt. March 7th, 2013.

Years ago, in the Town of Stettler, Alberta a very honest and successful business man operated a Men’s and Boy’s Wear store on the Main street. I well remember a sign in a prominent position in his store which said, ‘There is hardly anything available that cannot be made poorer and sold a lot cheaper and the person who looks at the price alone is fair game for such Cheater’s.” A few years ago, at the outfall of the Greater Vancouver Sewage Treatment system, the screen at the end of the large Pipe became plugged and a crew was dispatched to deal with the problem. It was quickly discovered that what plugged the screen was undissolved food supplement tablets which had not only passed through peoples digestive systems but also through the normally effective Sewage Treatment system which was designed to break down and disolve the sewage. The people who had bought Food supplements solely on the basis of price and advertising were cheated into ingesting junk that they were trusting to keep them healthy.

One way to test food supplements is to drop the tablets in a glass of water and time the interval until the supplements dissolve. The first time I saw that demonstrated was in the home of friends in Nanaimo. The Lady of the house put water in four glasses and then placed three Multi Vitamin – Multi Mineral tablets from three different popular brands of over the counter tablets in three of the glasses. Then she asked me to record the time. She then dropped a Shaklee Vita Lea multi in the fourth glass. Twelve minutes went by. The Shaklee product was fully disolved. None of the other three showed any sign of disolving.

An hour later it was time for Ruth and me to catch our ferry. Our friend asked us to come out to the lawn so she could empty the four glasses at the edge of the flower border. Still none of the three had dissolved at all. The Shaklee one had fully dissolved. She took pictures of the area. About two weeks passed and she sent us another picture The three had not yet dissolved and were easy to spot in the picture. In the area where the Shaklee Multi was poured out, the rabbits had eaten the grass right down to the roots, which seems to say that rabbits are smarter than most shoppers in food supplement displays.

The first Shaklee Multi Vitamin- Multi Mineral Tablets were developed in 1915 by Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee and dispensed to his Chiropractic patients with great success to provide good health for his clients. Since then Shaklee Corporation has never looked back, has never ceased to carry out deeply Scientific Research to produce ever more effective, safe and fully guaranteed Food Based Supplements, fully Biodegradable cleaning products (Green from the Beginning and much less costly than the competition), Personal Care products, hair care products etc. and now a new line of Weight loss products clinically proven to bring users weight down to their desired level in 90 days and in the next 90 days show them how to maintain that standard and all as you enjoy the great health and energy that is the result. In the 35 years since Ruth and I discovered Shaklee products we have never once been dissapointed with any product or service provided by this very honest and generous Company. More costly?That is rubbish. Every Shaklee product works as the company guarantees and is fully guaranteed or your money back. The Proof of the Pudding is certainly in the eating.

Some memories leave long impressions on our minds. I well remember a storm that boiled down out of the Northwest around three in the afternoon when I was seven years of age. The location was the Cattle Ranch where I was born in Alberta. It was, until the storm began a year when we had enjoyed plenty of rain and good sunshine between rainfalls. There seemed every hope of harvesting a major crop of all kinds of Grain and garden produce. The storm heralded it’s coming by boiling black clouds, almost continuous lightning with ragged edges and streaks. The time lapse from when it showed it’s coming and when it hit us with all it’s fury was brief minutes. As a result, many people were caught out in the open with no shelter. Some of our neighbors lost family members due to the fury of wind, hail and electrical power that seemed to fill the air all around us. Small animals were killed in great numbers. Crops and gardens were totally destroyed When the wind came it brought with it hailstones as big as tennis balls and lashed everything before it. One victim of the fury was a farm building of more than 1,600 square feet which was lifted from it’s foundation, blown nearly one quarter of a mile across the valley and set down in a new location WITHOUT SERIOUS DAMAGE TO THE STRUCTURE! But the wind drove the hail like artillery fire against the Ranch House , tearing off the siding and breaking most of the windows on the windward side. It was a storm never to be forgotten.

I was with the family indoors and felt secure because our parents had never let us down. But it was obvious to us five children that we were suffering a major experience of loss and destruction. The noise was horrifying and as windows broke large hailstones pounded across the floors with nothing to impede them. We were kept away from the stormy side of the house for our protection. We thought it was a storm which would never be repeated. But again in 1928, we had large crops nearly ready to harvest and a repeat of the same fury of storm just as harvest was to begin. In 1929, the rains did not come and our crops and gardens were nearly non existent. Then again in 1930, we had nearly ample rainfall and just as harvest was to begin, we were completly hailed out again. There then followed seven years of nearly no rain when we had nothing but coal black dust storms with no crop to speak of, so we scraped by with barely enough crop to keep our livestock alive. We learned to call those years “the dirty thirties.” The winds piled up the “Tumbling Tumble-Weeds” (Do you remember the popular song?) against the fences around the fields and then the dust covered the fences with the result that we had to build fences on top of the old fences. Many farmers were forced out of their farms and into the timbered areas of the northern lands to keep their families from starvation. In 1939, the rains began again and we recovered from the long depression that had afflicted us so severely. But we have never forgotten those years of depression!

]]>https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/a-wind-in-1927-of-major-force/feed/057dickhuntForty Years An Anglican Priest, and Then Died An Atheisthttps://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/forty-years-an-anglican-priest-and-then-died-an-atheist/
https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/forty-years-an-anglican-priest-and-then-died-an-atheist/#respondFri, 11 Jul 2014 06:18:50 +0000http://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/?p=1334

Forty Years An Anglican Priest And Then Died An Atheist By Dick Hunt, Thursday, June 26th, 2014.

Not me, I am grateful to say, but a man who ministered in various Parishes in Alberta, including the one in which I was called to Preach and Teach the Gospel. He studied in an approved and normally effective Theological College in eastern Canada, passsed the exams and was Ordained, first as a Deacon and then as a Priest. He came to us in our small Church in a small village, feeling he was well prepared to do everything necesssary as our spiritual leader. Before he came, he took a course in the United States on how to minister to Farm Folks. So the first goal he set himself was to tell us “how to do Agriculture.” That did not impress those of us who had “borne the struggle and heat of the day to earn our living” We also learned that he was never, ever, on time for anything. His Father in Ontario let us know that he never had been on time for anything. He was not very popular with the members of the little Churches where he was called to serve. We prayed for him. We tried to get him to change his habits and attitude, all to no avail. God answered my prayers in a very moving way. He let me know, in no uncertain fashion, that if I didn’t like the way our “leader” was leading, I should do it myself. God did the moving! I decided I should become a “Lay Reader”, a term which meant , one who assisted the Clergy in any way we could. I asked him to speak to our Bishop and after many months he finally said he had done so and that he was to train me. I kept on asking him to do so, for months !

Finally the Bishop came to our little Church to Confirm four people. While he was preparing for the service, I heard him say to our minister, “(N), we have a Lay Reader here, let’s put him to work”. The response was negative, so the Bishop said to him, “I gave you his licence months ago, give it me and I will put him to work, which he did, with a veangence. He had me kneel at the Communion Rail and he Commisioned me! He assigned me to take services of Morning and Evening Prayer every week, not only in Anglican Churches but also at the request of the United Churches across the area, every week from October to May, for four years, being the time when Student Ministers were not available. And all this with no official training. I really sweat it!. I read, prayed, studied, wrote copious notes. Longhand. I remember well a Sunday morning when with Ruth and our Children we arrived at a United Church, five miles from home and I almost lost it, because I had left all my notes at home. I turned myself over to God in no uncertain fashion, throwing myself on His mercy. After that service, many of the Congregation said, “what happened to you this morning? You have never preached so positively before.” I explained and they said, “great, we look forward to more”. Don’t get me wrong. Now I always preach from the Scriptures and labour long as I prepare with constant dependance on the Holy Spirit to teach me the meaning of Scripture and implant it in my heart and mind, so I can share the Word of God with those who will hear me. Sadly, the young Priest who first came to us in Alberta, died an Atheist, as his widow told me later.

]]>https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/forty-years-an-anglican-priest-and-then-died-an-atheist/feed/057dickhuntThe Building Of The Radio Link From Vancouver To Alaskahttps://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/the-building-of-the-radio-link-from-vancouver-to-alaska/
https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/the-building-of-the-radio-link-from-vancouver-to-alaska/#respondFri, 11 Jul 2014 06:13:52 +0000http://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/?p=1332The Building Of The Radio Link from Vancouver to Alaska by Dick Hunt, Saturday, June 28th, 2014.

When the United States entered the second world War , I was at an R.C.A.F. Station on Denny Island just off the West Coast at an area known as Bella Bella. I was in the Signals section and so was involved in the construction of the link. One day we had been flown to the site in a large “FLYING BOAT” called a “STRANRAER”, an odd looking Plane built in Scotland. It was a Bi-Plane, the lower wing being right down on top of the Hull and the upper one ten feet above, with vertical struts and wires keeping it in place. The two Rotary Motors were in the top wing. It looked like it would never fly, but it did. 13 of us with our equipment were transported to the building site, and at sundown we boarded for the return flight. As we gained altitude flying down an open channel we saw just ahead of us thick fog rolling down to the channel out of the coastal mountains. We were quickly immersed in it and flying blind. When we broke out of it, we saw the mountain tops, glistening with snow and ice like jewels in the sky. But the fog stretched for miles, all the way to our landing point and beyond. We radioed our station so they would know our predicament, they set out landing lights and watched for us. To make matters worse, we were getting very low on fuel. Just as we were close to having to ditch anywere we could guess was safe, we saw the landing lights at our home station and with the last of our fuel, splashed down with sighs of deep relief for our deliverance. Nowadays I would have thanked God for His mercy, but that was before I had come to terms with Him. I flew as a passenger often in the course of my duties in the old Stranraeres and it was quite a sturdy plane. But on one occasion we were flown to a tiny Island thirty miles off the coast and in landing in rough waters, the tail assembly fell off and tumbled into the water. We were near shore and a Crash Boat quickly came to our rescue and towed us to the Dock. I was there with my crew to set up the two way radio link and the Radar station. It was Easter Sunday and there was a bag of mail unloaded as we disembarked. I had been very sad that I had not had any mail from my family for some time. Late that day, I went to the Office and there was a letter from my Mother who lived in Calgary. You can likely appreciate my emotion as I settled down to read and re-read the letter. The name of the place was “Spider Island”. It was about a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide and varied in altitude from sea level to 450 feet. Our Radar station was at the high point. We were a dot on the map, 30 miles off the coast. Our Signals Officer was with us and had given us instructions to complete the installations and leave it to him to put them in use. He really had no idea how to do so and my friend, Larry Goodwill and I had to draw his attention away from the equipment while we tuned it to the Stations and put it into service. He then turned on the switches and took the credit for his work. He went home happy. We stayed and completed the assignment for which we were there. A crew from the Airframe Section of our home station arrived in due course, repaired the tail section, rudders etc. and we flew to our base safely. When I was transferred to Calgary, I flew to Vancouver in that same plane.

Billy came from England, where he was a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and also a successful and popular Steeplechase Rider. He was very fond of horses and dogs. And he was in love wth a woman who jilted him. As a result of the latter experience, he cut his ties with England, immigrated to Alberta, became a Homesteader about 1920 and settled down to be a Bachelor. He was a neighbour to us on the Cattle Ranch where I was born, about ten miles distant from him. I never saw him ride a horse but he drove about in a spanking two wheeled Phaeton, pulled by two beautiful Bay Horses. And when he wanted to visit his friends he simply “dropped in for a few days”, put his Horses in the Barn and left us to look after them. He was always assured of a comfortable bed and good meals and someone to “iisten to his yarns”. My Mother learned to ignore him so she could get on with her busy life, … caring for the domestic needs of family, Ranch Employees, gardening, Church and much besides. Billy was always glad to sit at the Heintzman Upright Piano and play at almost any hour. He had reems of sheet music for all tastes. He always showed up at our home on the great Festivals such as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Thanksgiving, or Valentines Day, or any other time he wanted company and good home cooking. And he never went to Church except to play at a Wedding or Funeral. He was fond of voicing his opinion that “when you are dead, you are six feet down and that’s it, none of this nonsence about Heaven”. Until one day he said to me, “I just can’t believe that there is no life after death. I sat with my old friend, Bill Tullick when he died the other day and he described heaven to me. And it was real. But he still didn’t go to Church. Some people take a good deal of persuading. In addition to being a glowing example and great teacher, my Mother was clever. When I was a teenager she “allowed me to drive her to Church”. But we all went to Church. When I was a small boy, she took me out to her flower garden one Sunday morning and asked me to look deeply into a blossom and describe it to her, which I did. Then she said to me “I want you to always remember that only God can make a flower”. My Father was brought up in a dual Church household in England. His Mother was a very devout Roman Catholic. His Father was a casual Anglican. As each of their nine children were born and with the approval of their two Priests, they were Baptised alternately, R.C. or Anglican. My Father came up R.C., and well taught by his Mother. When he became a Rancher in Alberta , there was no R.C. Church wihin many miles. But there was a Anglican Church and my Mother was active in it, with her Father. In due course, my parents met, in the little store and post Office founded by them and were married in the Anglican Church in Stettler Alberta. I became the Pastor of that Church in 1957. We were a United Family again. I became first, a Lay Reader in that Church, taking services in many Churches around the country. Then Ruth and I and the Children left the Ranch, moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where I prepaired for Ordination, at the same time being put in charge of a Suburban Parish for two years. Then we moved back to Calgary Diocese where I was Ordained and placed in charge of the Parish where my Parents were married, for seven years, only fifty miles from where I was born. Over the years I have preached in nearly 200 Churches, from once only to twelve yerars. God has never let me down, but has always met our every need, with my Dear Wife Ruth, who passed away last year, and Dear Family. Thank you Lord. Jesus never fails us.

]]>https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/billy-mills-the-bachelor-who-loved-company/feed/057dickhuntManaging a Large Familyhttps://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/managing-a-large-family/
https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/managing-a-large-family/#respondFri, 11 Jul 2014 05:52:21 +0000http://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/?p=1328Managing a Large Family; by Dick Hunt, April 9th, 2014.

In England in the late 1800’s my Father, Harold Hunt was born, one of nine children on a farm in the Midlands. His Mother was a Roman Catholic and very devout from all reports. His Father was Anglican and not much inclined to support the Church. But Dad did remember and share that as each Child was born, it was Baptised alternately as a Roman Catholic and an Anglican, with full co-operation of the two Priests. Dad was shunted into the R.C. lane and his Mother gave him a very good and effective grounding in her Faith which proved to be his Moral, Spiritual and lively way of life long after he left England and came to Canada. He also remembered with great clarity a day when the two Priests, Roman Catholic and Anglican pitched hay in the hayfield together with his Father, with great joy and fellowship. That was Ecumenicity of the most practical kind and greatly helped with the bringing up of the Family. It has, even to this day resulted in firm links between both sides of the Hunt family on both sides of the Atlantic through cousins who have kept in close touch, both intercountry visits, mail and now the Internet. Dad came to Canada at the age of 18 in pursuit of a life in Agriculture, as did somer of his siblings. He early began to plan a life as a Cattle Rancher, sometimes with the partnership of three brothers and two sisters. He met, and later married my Mother, Florence Foreman on February 3rd, 1913, in a little Anglican Church in Alberta, a Church which eventually became the first Church in which I Ministered when I was Ordained in 1957. I was the middle child of five, one sister and four boys. We all spent most of our lives as Ranchers,except for me as God called me to the Ministry in the middle fifties. The only Grandparent I ever had was my Mother’s Father, William, the other three having passed away in England before I was born. He was born in England and immigrated to Port Carling, Ontario, Canada where my Mother was born, losing her Mother at Childbirth. She had four brothers. He married again but that union also ended with the loss of her Stepmother. They then moved, with three of her brothers to Alberta. The three brothers all served with the Canadian Army in Europe and in spite of being in the front lines at Amiens, Paschendale and Vimy Ridge, all returned to Canada to recover their health and live long and productive lives. On arrival in Alberta, Grampa Foreman settled at a spot on the map to start a farm, with my Mother who was just nine years of age. He opened a small General Store and Post Office on a country road on their little farm. The nearest town was 25 miles away and that was where he bought the stock for the store and collected the mail. While he was away, my Mother ran the store and post office. She would be alone and in charge for two days each time he was away. She had close and very helpful neighbours, a Scottish family and it was the Lady of that famlly, Janet Campbell, who was my Mother’s Midwife at my brth in 1920. It was also in that little store that my Mother and Father met and eventually were married in Church in Stettler Alberta. There was no R.C. Church for many miles around, so Dad attended services regularly with Mother and the family down the years. The night Dad died in Hospital, he was very weak, asked us all what our plans were for the future, and said, “When you go home, I am just going to go to sleep and when I wake up, I will be Home.” Then he gestered and said, “It is just there” and in joyfull tones he described heaven to us. The Doctor phoned just at midnight. Dad had gone home.

]]>https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/managing-a-large-family/feed/057dickhuntI Believe I was Born August 4th, 1920https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/i-believe-i-was-born-august-4th-1920/
https://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/i-believe-i-was-born-august-4th-1920/#commentsFri, 11 Jul 2014 05:49:24 +0000http://57dickhunt.wordpress.com/?p=1326I Believe I Was Born August 4th, 1920. by Dick Hunt, April 4th, 2014.

I can’t prove that, as I was just a tiny Baby at the time. But I trust that my Mother and Father, my elder siblings (2), my Uncle Matt who went 28 miles to bring the Doctor who arrived after I was born, with the aid of a Scottish neighbour, skilled in Midwifery. They all would agree. And as I was growing up I had the most wonderful Childhood in the midst of a loving Family. My parents insisted on honesty and integrity and modelled the same by their example. From the time we entered into the School system of the day until adulthood, we were taught the skills that would serve us well as adults. With the process of growing up with the eventual four siblings around me, I learned to consider the rest of the family and the constant crew of employees on a busy Ranch which employed all of us to the fullest degree. On Sundays, we regularly went to worship in the Church twelve miles away, as a family. We always went to Church on Sundays and were taught and nurtured in the Biblical Faith and Discipline of the Anglican Church. The Ministers were honest teachers and leaders in the Community, who often travelled many miles in their duties in a number of Communities. Eventually, I entered their ranks and have served in the same manner in three provinces. Now, on the verge of my 94th year I still minister whenever I am asked to do so and rejoice to be invited. Society has changed a good deal over the years, and there are many changes to surmount and encounter in the excercise of serving in the Church. But, having been Ordained for more than 60 years, I have found that the Truths that were handed down in my youth are as relevant and important to the Human Famiiy as they ever were. It is still true that the God of our lives loves us and will not let us go. It is still true that he gives us the breath of life, without taking from us the freedom to make our own choices in life. It is equally true that He wants to bless us with His constant presence in our lives and has shown Himself to us, not only in the blessings of His universe, but most visibly in the life, ministry ,death on the Cross and Resurrection from the Dead of His only Son, Jesus. He was miraculously born of the Virgin Mother, Mary and so is the true Son of His Father God. As such He calls us all to turn to the Father in trust and obedience, in order that we may enjoy His Fatherhood and eagerly serve Him in His everlasting Kingdom. Insofar as we do so, individually, we may live lives of loving obedience, hope and joy in His Kingdom. As we do so we can look forward to being in His Kingdom for all Eternity, with the certainty of being in His everlasting Kingdom of love, peace and with our departed loved ones. If that sounds like a fairy story, it is certainly true that it is not. When we make our individual decisions to accept the offer of our Salvation, from Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord of our lives. It has to be with the knowledge that only through the agony of His freely given death on the Cross, bearing in His own Body all the sins of the whole world, that we are saved from the everlasting death we deserve. Salvation came at a terrible cost to Jesus, the only perfect being ever to be born. He loves us with His everlasting love and rose from the dead from the Father to bring us Home and to destroy the Power of Sin and Death itself over us all. Such is the Hope that we embrace as our own when we say yes to the Living Lord Jesus as Saviour. That is the Message that I have been happy to teach, share and preach for more than sixty years. Praise be to God!

I have been researching the events and statements made at the recent Grammies celebrations in Hollywood. Much has been made of the great success of the recent Film about the Life of Jesus, and it was strongly featured in the celebrations. It was mentioned that Michael Landon Sr. was a strong factor in the Film Industry for some years. Having said that, the reporters made mention that Michael Landon Jr. was a film maker of great merit, having produced films for many firms. He also revealed that his Father’s marriage had ended in divorce and he had lost his Faith. in the interview he revealed that four years later he himself had bcome a reckless driver, rebellious, a drinker, used drugs and got kicked out of the U. of S.C. His Mother was listening to her Manicurist Lois who “was speaking truth to her and she committed her life to Christ as Saviour and Lord”. To appease his Mother he started going with her and her parents to Church and after several months as he said, “I was completly broken and committed my life to Christ”. So “he now speaks the Truth, as it is in Christ” He has revealed the evil of the film makers of the Jesus Film especially for their three times changing of their three quotes from a well known verse from St. John’s Gospel, Chapter 3 verse 16 as they have left out the critical word’s “should not perish”. So they have the reading as “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life,” three times leaving out the words, “should not perish!” Michael Landon Jr. rightly called that a deliberately evil statement designed only to confuse and advance their own agenda, which is to make money and destroy the Christian faith. Thank God for Michael Jr. People who deny the God of all power and might, the maker of the Universe and the giver of all life and Love are at best whistling in the dark. His awesome power was what brought the entire Cosmos into being. He spoke and the whole world was made. Knowing that in order to understand and believe, we needed to see His very self, He caused the Virgin Mary to concieve a child without benefit of a human father. Jesus came into the world in Behtlehem, a fact well attested in every way. I have been there in the proximity where that awesome event took place. I wear a hand carved Olivewood Cross which I bought in that very place. God, the Father of Jesus Christ our only Saviour and Lord, the only Way into God’s Kingdom both here and in the hereafter, holds in His Loving control all the Earth and the Universe. The Love of God is so awesome that he made the Way clear as to what He has done to show us the Way, the Truth and the Life open to all through Jesus Christ, who is that Way! In the more than sixty years during which I have ministered, taught and preached that Truth, I have witnessed only the most joyful results in all those who have taken the step that brings them into the family of the Living God through Jesus His only Son. There is no other Way in. That is what gives the lie to the false reporting of the Jesus Film at the Grammie celebrations. There is a self chosen punishment to come for all who deliberately deny the Salvation so freely given for all people. The claim was even made by the “Grammie Crowd”, that only moderns know the truth and they are NOT GRANNIES”. We have all had Grannies in our lives and they are no dummies! The sole reason for the attempt to remove the words, “should not Perish” from the quote From St. John 3:16 is to make more money and destroy the Christian Faith. Hang in there, Christians. Be aware of the Truth!